


Trouble Never Looked so God-Damned Fine

by thefaultinourpotters



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Certain things in the last few books will change, F/M, Gen, Percy loosens up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 13:23:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9183502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefaultinourpotters/pseuds/thefaultinourpotters
Summary: Something was pounding.  Maybe several things. One of them must be his head, although he wasn’t sure.Someone grabbed his arm.“C’mon, lets get out of here.”He turned to see who it was and his jaw dropped. Pieces of the night before were starting to come back to him.The summer before Percy's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, a whirlwind blows into his life and set him on a path he never expected.





	

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfic. Title comes from the song Hot Mess by Hedley, the inspiration for this.

Molly Weasley loved giving advice. 

Especially to her children.

“If you made the effort to keep your room tidy, then you wouldn’t have to spend half the day cleaning it, Ronald”

“Going out, Ginny? Oh… are you sure those robes are what you want to wear? How about I help you pick a more suitable outfit.”

“Honestly you two, if you spent any less time studying you might as well stay home”

Which is why, in Diagon Alley for school shopping with Percy, Fred and George (Ron and Ginny were goodness-knows-where with Harry Potter) and the group came across a gaggle of girls in skin-tight, barely-there outfits, with dark circles under their eyes and wild hair, Molly made the comment, “boys, those are the types of girls that like to get in trouble, and will drag you down with them. And I’m not talking just about the mischief you two get into at school.” 

It was Percy’s sixth year and girls barely talked to him, let alone girls who looked like that, so he knew the advice was aimed more at his troublesome brothers. He barely gave the incident another thought, until the following summer. 

 

-

 

Something was pounding. Maybe several things. One of them must be his head, although he wasn’t sure.

Percy cracked his eyes open, and tried to sit up. He immediately realised that this was a terrible idea and laid back down on the… couch? Why was he on a couch? Where was he? Suddenly a loud wailing pierced the air. 

“Shit, the cops!”

Percy looked around to see who shouted and noticed for the first time the people sprawled around the floor. Everyone was getting up and moving and he still had no idea what was going on. It was still dark outside.

Someone grabbed his arm. “C’mon, lets get out of here.”

He turned to see who it was and his jaw dropped. Pieces of the night before were starting to come back to him. 

 

-

 

A little less than twelve hours earlier, Percy was back in Diagon, this time on his own. It was a beautiful late July afternoon; after a hot day the temperature had dropped to more reasonable levels and there was an almost golden glow about the cobblestones that gave the alley a hazy, dreamlike quality. Clouds drifted by lazily and shoppers did the same. 

Percy didn’t notice this, though. He wasn’t paying much attention to anything.

So far, the summer before his NEWT year was not what he had hoped. He finished his homework earlier in the summer than usual, and suddenly found himself with nothing important to do. He’d gone to visit Oliver Wood, but one could only take so much quidditch talk in an afternoon. His final Hogwarts letter had not yet arrived, so he still didn't know if he'd been made head boy (everyone was sure he'd get it, but he'd like the proof, thank you very much). And that was why, on this particular July day, Percy made the decision to go to Diagon Alley rather on a whim, hoping to find some decent books.

He had wandered in and out of Flourish and Blotts without finding anything that caught his interest and moved on to Obscurus Books. It was farther outside his price range, but he went in anyway. 

Maybe if Percy hadn’t chosen to go to Diagon that day, or if he had visited the Second Hand Bookshop instead of Obscurus, or even if he went earlier in the day, the following events wouldn’t have transpired. His life wouldn’t have changed one bit, he would have went on as usual. But he had, and didn’t, and hadn’t thought to, so it did.

 

-

 

He hadn’t noticed her at first; there was virtually no one in the bookshop and Percy wandered without any real purpose. He was perusing the classical literature section when an odd title caught his eye. “Learn To Dress Yourself: a Modern Guide to Looking like a Real Human Being.” Assuming someone had put a strange book away carelessly, he moved on. Then, in the potions corner, he came across “So Your Son is a Crumple-Horned Snorkack.” Whirling around, to the nearby modern literature aisle, he spotted two more ridiculous titles. Hurrying down and turning the corner, he collided almost painfully with someone in a rush.

She had her wand in her hand, and it took Percy a second to realize she was familiar. Carmela Hart. She giggled.

“Take out your wand,” she whispered before whipping out of sight. He was too shocked to disobey. He didn’t think she recognized him, despite the fact that they had shared a common room for six years.

“Hey!” Jolted out of his stupor, Percy turned to see a shopkeeper storming towards him. He hastily put his wand away again. “Aha! I know it was you! Think this is funny, charming my book covers with fake titles? That graffiti last week was you as well, wasn’t it!”

“Sir, wait, I-” The shopkeeper wasn’t listening. He grabbed Percy’s arm and tugged him along to the register, “I am going to be compensated! That’ll teach you to quit messing with this store.”

Percy could hardly breathe. Him! Deface books! Absurd! He’d never done such a silly and disrespectful thing in his life. He was also painfully aware of the lack of galleons in his pocket. 

Just as they were reaching the back of the store, there was a small bang and a commotion out by the front door. People were stopping to see what was going on. The shopkeeper sighed. “Stay right here and I’ll be right back.”

Again, Percy didn’t think to disobey. He stood stock still, stomach filling with dread, until a different hand grabbed his arm.

“Come on, we can slip out the back,” It was Carmela again. She grinned impishly at him and set off.

Percy had never had a more confusing afternoon in his life. He numbly followed Carmela until they had blended into the crowds now dissipating in front of the shop. 

Once they had turned the corner, he stopped suddenly. Carmela walked a few more steps before realizing and turning back to him.

“What?” 

“You framed me.”

“Yeah, and?”

“What do you mean, and? You tried to pin your crimes on me!” Percy cried, getting agitated.

“Oh please, I was slipping out to set up a distraction and get you out of there. It would have taken me ages to double back to the front entrance with him following me like that.”

“Still, I did nothing wrong and you set me up!”

She sighed, “If it’s that big a deal to you, I’ll go back and turn myself in.”

“Really-?” 

“No, idiot, I’m not going back. Tell you what though,” She turned and looked down the street, “I will treat you at Rosa Lee’s.”

She grabbed Percy’s arm again. He really wanted people to stop doing that today.

 

-

 

They settled at the teashop, seeing as it was approaching dinnertime, and were sipping at their tea in silence until she broke it.

“You’re Percy Weasley, right?” He sighed, not quite happy he was right about her not recognizing him at first. 

“Yeah, Carmela, we’ve been Gryffindors together for six years, and I’ve been prefect for two of them,” she nodded, satisfied. 

“I thought so. You know, I don’t think we’ve hardly spoken before now,” Percy sighed again. Suddenly, he remembered the previous summer, school shopping with his mother and the twins, and the advice she had given them.

Carmela Hart certainly fit the description Molly had been talking about. She was trouble. Some of it was petty pranks like what happened at the bookstore, but there were also much crazier rumours about her as well. Carmela was beautiful, outgoing, wild. She thrived on adventure and thought rules were optional. She never hesitated, or regretted. She had a presence that drew you in, made you want her to like you, made you listen to her. She was full of life and full of trouble. 

That’s why she and Percy hardly spoke.

“Yeah, I wonder why that was,” Percy said dryly.

Carmela looked at him for a second, then burst into laughter, “You can be funny, Weasley!”

This was the first time anyone, aside from Oliver, had ever said that to him sincerely. He smiled.

When she was calm she looked at him again, “You know, you’re not bad-looking either. I mean, no Oliver Wood, but still.”

This seemed to be a day of firsts for Percy, “Thanks, I think.”

“Trust me, that’s a compliment.”

They sat in silence for a few moments before Carmela drained her cup and stood suddenly.

“I’m off to a party tonight,” Percy nodded, having already accepted that they were probably going to go back to never speaking.

A beat passed. Two.

“You coming?”

Now, as previously stated, Carmela had a certain way about her that made you want to listen, to agree, to impress. Percy, it seems, was not immune. He stood up too.

“First, we have to get you ready,” he looked down at his simple robes. 

“What’s wrong with this?”

“It’s a muggle party.”


End file.
